There will be task based problems given to the students throughout the course of the year consistently. In this course you will see example problems adopted by illustrative mathematics at least 1 per unit. The task I chose for this lesson is a review from 6th grade. (6.NS.C.5) I chose a review question because I want the focus for the opening week to remain on the students truly engaging in identifying the mathematical practices, and not feeling so overwhelmed by the task that they shut down and don't try at all. This will be an awesome assessment to see what your students are bringing to their 7th grade experience from 6th grade.

The objective of this lesson is to continue to build consistent engagement with the mathematical practices. I am including open-ended question examples that will help you in their engagement during the task.

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Bell Ringer: The bell ringer will be used for Individual Think Time (I.T.T). As you greet your students at the door, hand each student the task sheet. Pump the students up for the day by letting them know they will be doing a task that will show off their skills to pay the bills. You can let the students know that this is their time to shine because the task is based on what was taught from 6th grade. They will feel empowered and ready to tackle the task.

For this portion of the day, give students 10 I.T.T minutes. For students to actively engage in MP1 during I.T.T, they should feel like that detective from day 2’s lesson and actively look for clues to solve the problem, understand that mistakes are the way we learn and thus ok, think about and try several ways to solve the problem, and reflect about what the problem is asking. The questions you can ask during this time are, “What do you know about the problem?” “What is being asked?” “What problems have you solved before like this problem?” “What might be several ways you can solve this problem?” “Could you use a number line to help you?” “If so, how?” “Could you use an illustration to help you?” “What made you use that strategy to help you?”

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Once the students have had about 10 minutes of I.T.T, transition to pair up time(P.U.T). Please allow students 20 minutes to pair up, discuss, and solve the task. During P.U.T time, students will actively engage in many mathematical practices. Instruct students to pair up with a partner. During this time, the students should discuss their thinking with one another and solve the task. During this time students will actively engage in MP1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and possibly 7 and 8. Please see the resource that gives open ended questions that you may ask your students during the pair up time. As students are discussing and solving the task, walk the room checking for understanding. The open-ended questions are a great way for you to engage in the conversations the students are having, and help students stay on task.

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Have students return to their I.T.T seats. Host a whole group discussion. Yes, students will want to know the correct answers to the task. It is important through this discussion that you are affirming correct work and correct responses. The goal of this lesson is to measure student understanding of the mathematical practices used while solving the task. This closing activity should be two fold. Address student thinking and the practices used. The open-ended questions that you used during the visits to the pair groups will also be used during the discussion with the whole group. During this time, students will be able to share out their experiences with everyone. This will give students the opportunity to learn from the group as a whole.

In the final conclusion of the closing, be sure to go through the correct process in solving the problem leaving the students with the correct answer.

Have students go home and research mathematical practices online. Have students bring back two artifacts that they found most interesting about their research. If students were unable to access a computer from home, you may have these students research quickly during the bell ringer portion on day 4.

Ok... you know I love your lessons... I will keep commenting... because I have a ton of questions. I am having a hard time understanding your ITT and PUT set-up. Is your room really big so that you can change that quickly?

Big Idea:
What do students already know about integers, rational numbers, and the coordinate plane? What gaps do students have in their understanding? Students take the Unit 3 pretest in order to inform instruction.